Executive Mayor Parks Tau led a delegation from United Nations agency the Global Environment Fund (GEF) on a tour of Joburg's Empire-Perth Corridor of Freedom using Rea Vaya on Tuesday, 9 February.

This followed the announcement of a R120-million investment by the GEF in the City's Corridors of Freedom programme, which is using transit-oriented development to overcome the spatial legacy of apartheid, thereby opening access to opportunities for all the people of Johannesburg.

Towards a low-carbon economy

Announcing the investment at the Metro Centre in Braamfontein, Mayor Tau said the City's Growth and Development Strategy 2040 committed it to providing "a resilient, liveable, sustainable urban environment - underpinned by infrastructure that is supportive of a low-carbon economy.

"This is exactly what the Corridors of Freedom programme seeks to achieve."

Transport MMC Christine Walters chats with a GEF official as they travel the first section of the Empire-Perth Corridor connecting the CBD and Soweto. (Photo by Rudo Mungoshi)

He said the City's partnership with the GEF would contribute towards greenhouse gas emission reductions in Johannesburg through an integrated urban planning approach involving a number of pilot projects.

GEF chief executive Naoko Ishii said she was happy to see "that the Corridors of Freedom is a multifaceted approach that will address other issues such as food security and social housing".

Mayor, delegation join ordinary commuters

After the press briefing Mayor Tau led the GEF delegation across to Rea Vaya's Joburg Theatre Station, where Transport MMC Christine Walters gave a quick briefing on the Rea Vaya network, which forms the backbone of the Corridors.

The delegation, armed with double-trip smartcards courtesy of Rea Vaya, then boarded a T3 bus, joining ordinary commuters on their way from the CBD to destinations along the Empire-Perth Corridor to Soweto.

Mayor Tau and his guests, accompanied by City officials and a sizeable media contingent, arrive at Westbury Station. (Photo by Elias Nkabinde)

Disembarking at Westbury Station, the delegation was met by officials from the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), who gave them a tour of various Corridor-related projects under development in the Westbury precinct.

New bridge, clinic, social development centre

These include construction of a new pedestrian bridge in the vicinity of Westbury Station, to accommodate the hundreds of school children who cross the road daily on their way to and from school, as well as the upgrading of the local social development centre.

From the station, the delegation crossed over to the site of the multi-million rand Westbury Clinic project - one of four Corridors of Freedom clinics currently under construction.

Westbury is one of many previously underdeveloped suburbs that are currently undergoing rejuvenation thanks to their location along one of the City's emerging Corridors.

The final stop-over was at the Metrobus bus depot, where the delegation was shown one of Metrobus's new fleet of energy-efficient buses.